It's very difficult to determine without having seen Kim once this whole year. I'm pretty sure Ando will be somewhere on the podium. Mao could win or be out of the medals depending on the day. Kostner, Korpi, Czisny, and Murakami will look to spoil, I think.

Ando has been so solid, has she made a single mistake in the LP all year? I have to think if she just sticks to her game plan she will sneak in for the win. Asada is doing better but will probably be lucky to go completely clean and have both 3axels rotated. Kim is a complete question mark and she has only ever gone completely clean in the LP once as it is. A clean solid skate with 6 triples could be all one needs.

Who can say what will happen without knowing something about Yuna's current condition. Has anyone read/seen/posted anything that would give us a sense of how she is right now?

Yuna aside, though, I would say Ando, unless Asada gets lucky. Ando sometimes isn't the most exciting, but she seems solid, and she appears to be getting stronger (and more exciting) with each event.

I can't be sure about this, but I often get the feeling that the judges want to give it to Kosner--"Let's give it to a (western) European once in a while." I wonder if that same sentiment bouyed Lambiel, once in a while, as well.

Are they going to go on with the Worlds in Tokyo?
I've just heard that Japan was hit hard by a massive earthquake.

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I would guess, yes, the event will still happen, judging from the reports, but who knows? Japan has very high safety standards for the construction of buildings, so the country will probably not be devastated. Plus they have several weeks to pull themselves together.

I would guess, yes, the event will still happen, judging from the reports, but who knows? Japan has very high safety standards for the construction of buildings, so the country will probably not be devastated. Plus they have several weeks to pull themselves together.

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I don't question safety standards in Japan, but what I've seen on TV seems pretty bad. I heard both the Narita and Haneda Airports have been closed. I won't be surprised to see significant casualties in both human lives and infrastructure.

Preliminaries are scheduled only 10 days away, and I fear that they are hit too hard to carry on with the Worlds.

Miki I think will be on the podium, not sure if she will win. I picked her in the poll, because she's been more consistent than Mao this season, Yuna has yet to compete, and the likes of Kostner, Korpi, Czisny are headcases. As for Murakami, she has a chance, but she's really young and unexperienced so idk if nerves/pressure will get to her or not, plus I also don't think she's world medalist material quite yet unless some big talents bomb (which is definitely possible). Mao has been skating better, but she hasn't been able to beat Miki yet, so I tend to think she'll be right below Miki here again. Yuna at her best is much better than Mao and Miki, but I don't know how much we can expect from her at this point, and I'm also curious about her LP layout. Czisny may make the podium but I doubt she wins, and I'm starting to fear she peaked too early this season.... Kiira couldn't handle the pressure at Euros, so I doubt she goes clean at Worlds.

Who knows? I guess it's a safer to bet on Miki or Kim but then there are always a few surprises at Worlds. And one reason I am wary of picking Miki as the winner is that she has proven to underperform when she is picked as a strong contender. Such as at Olympics, this year's GPF. However, when the spotlight is mostly on others, she surprises us like in 2009 and 2007 Worlds.

Why the quotation marks? Aftershocks can be just as scary. Although the probability of them happening decrease with time after the initial earthquake, Japan is a major earthquake zone. Even if Tokyo isn't near the epicenter of the quake, damages could occur in a domino-like fashion. If people don't feel comfortable travelling there, they shouldn't.

Well, I'm saying "excuses", not real anxieties. At least, other skaters don't need to be afraid of "losing faces". Let's see when Kim's "announcement" comes. In 2008, Kim withdrew from 4CC (in Seoul) just one week before the competition.